1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital camera wherein a focusing point, etc. can be specified.
2. Description of the Background Art
In conventional digital camera techniques, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-187580/1991 has disclosed techniques in which the shooter can desirably set AF and AE points with respect to a subject so as to prevent a centered blanking image and problems with an image taken with mixed subjects located closely and far apart from the camera.
However, the above-mentioned camera is applicable to the case in which a mono-focal point lens is used; however, in the case when it is applied to the case in which a zooming operation is carried out by a zoom lens or the case in which an electronic zooming operation is carried out, the relationship among three factors, that is, the subject, display screen and AF point, needs to be taken into consideration. However, the above-mentioned description has not described anything about this point.
With respect to other conventional techniques, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-265630/1996 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-191132/1998 have disclosed a technique in which AF and AE points are set through gazing line detection; however, problems with this technique are the necessity of providing an exclusively-used hardware for detecting the gazing line, the inapplicability in the case when the shooter is wearing glasses and the necessity of calibration for absorbing differences in individual persons; thus, at present, this technique has not been put into practical use.